Researchers may have found a new way to put ordinary fat cells to work, changing them from lazy blobs that store our extra calories into energy-burners. The method is surprisingly simple: keep the mice busy, and give them lots of friends and plenty of room to run around. After one month in such an “enriched” environment, mice saw some of their white fat cells, which store energy, take on characteristics of brown fat, which burns calories. After three months, the researchers could visually see the white fat turning brown. The new brown fat cells may explain why these mice stayed lean despite being fed a high-fat diet, the researchers said.
